Is Sugar Bad For Your Brain?

5.3 million Americans currently have Alzheimer's disease, and that number is projected to sharply increase as our population ages. As we look at various ways to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia, including mild cognitive impairment, one of the many areas that has been studied frequently is that of sugar.

We Americans, in general, love our sugar. But is it possible that sugar increases our likelihood of developing dementia?

Research on Sugar and Cognitive Functioning

There's an already established link between type 2 diabetes and the development of dementia. But how does sugar affect people who don't have diabetes?

Multiple studies have been conducted on how sugar, or more specifically, glucose levels in our blood, impact cognition. A few of them include the following:

• In 2008, the journal Neuroepidemiology published research that measured the fasting insulin levels of more than 1,400 middle-aged women who did not have diabetes. Beginning 10 years later, the researchers measured the cognitive ability of these women over the next four years. They found that the women who had higher insulin levels in mid-life were more likely to experience cognitive decline later in life.
• In 2013, the journal Neurology reported on a study where researchers again found that higher blood sugar levels were associated with significantly poorer performance on cognitive tests measuring delayed recall, memory, and learning. This study involved 141 participants with an average age of 63 years old, none of whom had diabetes.

• An article published in 2013 in the Physiology and Behavior journal described research involving 98 participants without diabetes. The scientists measured each person's cognition by using the Stroop test, which is widely considered to be an accurate measure of the brain's executive functioning ability. The results indicated that participants with an inability to regulate their glucose levels achieved lower scores on the Stroop test, indicating decreased cognitive ability. The researchers stated, "Our results indicate that even mild hyperglycemia in the non-diabetic range is associated with attentional processing difficulties in a sample of younger adults." 

How About Sugar Intake?

The British Journal of Nutrition in 2011 outlined a study that sought to determine if sugar intake (not blood glucose levels) affects cognitive functioning. 737 people without diabetes, ages 45 to 75, were involved in this study, which was part of the Boston Puerto Rican Health Study conducted from 2004-2009. The participants' cognition was measured by a variety of tests including the Stroop test, clock-drawing test, digit span test, and verbal fluency tests. These results were compared to the amount of sugar ingested by each person. The researchers found that in general, higher levels of sugar intake were correlated with lower cognitive scores.

Effect on the Brain

Not only does research show a connection between cognitive functioning and blood sugar levels, it also has demonstrated a correlation with actual brain size and structure. A study reported in Neurology found that higher blood glucose levels in people without diabetes were correlated with brain atrophy (shrinkage) in the hippocampal areas and the amygdala.

White sugar or refined sugar is the problem and it should be avoided like the plague. 

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Choosing Healthy Protein

We know we have to eat protein and for Americans the protein of choice is meat.

Making healthy protein choices is more about the fats that accompany the proteins and the preparation methods than it is about the actual proteins themselves. Look for protein sources that are lower in saturated fats, a little higher in mono and unsaturated fats, and prepared in healthy ways.

Okay, I'm going to spell it out, when you eat protein you're also getting fats and you prepare any meat, you use cooking oil or lard, so I'm not saying that you should stop eating protein, but the kind of protein you eat and the way you prepare meat can increase your risk for heart trouble. Animal fats will clog the arteries that carry blood throughout the body causing bad circulation and that causes heart trouble.

A fish fillet baked with lemon and almonds is an example of a healthy protein choice. Roasting a chicken breast and topping it with salsa would also be another healthy example. Seafood and poultry have different types of fat that are not harmful to the body.

A porterhouse steak is full of protein and tastes delicious, but it is not as healthy as poultry or fish due to all of the saturated fats usually found in red meat.

For most people, it's a good idea to limit red meat consumption to only a couple of meals each month. Processed meats, like lunch meats, are poor sources of protein too, because the fats and ingredients used to make them have been linked to cancer, and some people also worry about hotdogs and brain tumors.

Of course, fish and chicken may not always be healthy. Fried fish sticks or breaded and fried chicken are not good protein choices because this type of cooking adds unhealthy fats and extra calories.

Meats may be cooked on a grill. This method of cooking can be healthy as long as you take care not to char the meat. Use indirect heat and choose cuts of meat lower in fat to prevent charring.

Other healthy protein sources include legumes, nuts, and seeds.

Vegetables and grains also contain some protein. These plant sources contain polyunsaturated fats, some of which are beneficial to your health. You will learn more about the different types of fats in the next two lessons.

How Much Protein Do You Need?

If you need 2,000 calories per day, then about 300 to 400 calories should come from protein.

One gram of protein has four calories, so that means you would need 100 grams of protein each day. One ounce of protein is about 28 grams, so you need about four ounces of protein each day. One cup of diced chicken breast meat has about 45 grams of protein or just less than two ounces. Three ounces of canned tuna has 20 grams of protein or about two-thirds of an ounce of protein.

So how do you turn this into the right number of portions? One serving of meat is usually about three ounces, or about the size of a deck of cards, and has around 20 grams of protein. One cup of low-fat milk has about eight grams of protein. Twelve almonds have about three grams of protein.

Vegetarians and Incomplete Proteins

Complete proteins contain all of the essential amino acids, and incomplete proteins are missing one or more of the individual essential amino acids. Proteins from animal origin contain all of the essential amino acids, but proteins from plant sources do not. This means that a diet based on plant protein requires the right combinations of protein sources to get enough of all of the essential amino acids.

People who regularly eat meat, dairy and eggs don't need to be concerned with combining proteins since meat, eggs, fish, poultry and dairy products all contain complete proteins. Vegetarians and vegans may choose complementary proteins to get all the essential amino acids.

For example, grains are very low in the essential amino acid lysine, but legumes contain large amounts of lysine, so grains and legumes are considered complementary. When you eat both grains and legumes during the day, you will consume the lysine you need.

Here are some combinations of complementary plant proteins. They don't need to be combined at every meal as long as you get enough of the various proteins each day:

Grains plus legumes. Try black beans and rice.
Nuts and seeds plus legumes. Lentil soup with a serving of almonds on the side.
Corn plus legumes. Try pinto beans in a corn tortilla.
There are lots of possible combinations.

Try whole grain pasta tossed with peas, almonds, and Low-Fat Vegan Alfredo Sauce.
Whole wheat toast with peanut butter will give you a complete protein.
Bean soup with whole grain crackers.
Corn tortillas with refried beans and rice.
A vegetarian or vegan diet that includes legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds will supply all of the essential amino acids. Soy protein is a complete protein, and eating soy will provide you with all of the essential amino acids.

Losing body fat should be your goal. Read up on weight loss and losing body fat. It doesn’t cost money to lose weight. The internet is full of free information. But the quickest way and cheapest way is to buy an ebook online and get everything you need in one short read. I have two ebooks on Amazon:

How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight

Getting To A Healthy Weight

Check out one of them, I think you can find all the info you need and plenty of tips on how I lost my body fat. 

Look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find these e-books. These books give you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my books at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page. 

How Much Exercise Do I Need To Live Longer?

Physical activity promotes health, and for years, several public health bodies –- including the American Heart Association, US Centers for Disease Control, and the World Health Organization –- have recommended getting 30 minutes of moderate exercise, 5 or more times per week. Surprisingly, only a couple of more recent major studies have examined how exercise relates to longevity, and how much you should do to lengthen your life.

The research: In 2007, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) looked at more than 250,000 men and women between the ages of 50 and 71, and confirmed that the standard exercise recommendations improve a person's longevity. An average of 30 minutes of moderate activity, 5 times or more a week, gave participants a 27% lower risk of dying during the study period, while more vigorous exercise (20 minutes, 3 or more times a week), dropped the risk of death by 32%.

The problem is, not enough people are meeting that threshold of activity. In North America, less than half the population exercises the recommended amount, and in east Asian countries like China, Japan, and Taiwan, it’s only one in five. Because of this, a group of epidemiologists from Taiwan and Texas set out to answer the question: what minimum dose of exercise could improve a person’s lifespan?

The result? A very large cohort study tracking more than 416,000 men and women, between 1996 and 2008. 

Study subjects were questioned about their regular exercise, including how much they did, how often, and how intensely: light (walking), moderate (brisk walking), medium-vigorous (jogging), or high-vigorous (running).

The findings: People who did a daily average of just 15 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise (like brisk walking) 6 times per week (total of 92 minutes per week) lived an average of 3 years longer than those who were inactive. For people getting the amount of exercise recommended globally -- that is, 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise 5 or more times per week -- the benefit was 4 years’ longer life expectancy.

The longevity-boosting effects held true for both men and women, across all age groups, even accounting for confounding health factors like obesity, smoking, high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. That means the benefit of exercise was consistent, even when overweight subjects did not lose pounds by exercising, suggesting it’s better to be active regardless of weight, as opposed to thin and inactive.

Less heart disease and cancer: Cardiovascular disease, like heart attack and stroke, is the number one killer of both men and women in North America. Both low and moderate-intensity exercise cut the risk of cardiovascular disease by 20%.

The researchers stress that cancer, too, was avoided by the shorter duration of exercise, a significant fact in east Asia, where cancer is by far the leading cause of death. One in nine cancer deaths were averted with just 15 minutes of daily moderate-intensity exercise.

These results suggest that if people doing little or no activity now were to begin adding just 15 minutes a day of brisk walking, 6 days a week, one in six deaths from any cause could be postponed. That potential benefit ranks with a successful tobacco control program in the general population, say the researchers.

Finally, though the study was conducted in Taiwan, one of the authors insists there’s no reason the results can’t be extrapolated to show the benefit of even small amounts of exercise to all populations. Xifeng Wu, an epidemiologist from the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas, told me that ethnicity should make no difference, because physical activity has been proven beneficial to overall health, regardless of nationality.

Furthermore, she adds, this minimum threshold of exercise for greater longevity is an easier sell for health officials.

"Compared to the global recommendations of 30 minutes a day," she says, "the 15 minutes of exercise per day is easier to achieve." This proves my point that it's never too late to start exercising, even if it's only a brisk walk 15 minutes a day. If you're not excited about living a few years longer, think about the fact that you can be healthier, happier and thinner just by changing your diet and getting the minimum amount of exercise.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet.

“How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

 

Your Workout Not Working? Read This

Did you know that the average health club exerciser quits after just six months for one of the following reasons: not enough time or not seeing results? Eight Common Reasons Your Workouts Don't Work Sadly, most people become frustrated and quit exercising before they see any real results. But it's not too surprising, given the common mistakes many people make with their training programs. Are you making these workout mistakes? 1. All Quantity, No Quality Take a look around the gym (if you haven't quit going yet) and see how many people are really getting a quality workout. I'm always amazed by how many people are wandering aimlessly, walking leisurely on a treadmill while reading a book, lifting weights so light that not one hair moves out of place, or simply looking bored. A lot of exercisers head to the gym out of habit, and as if on automatic pilot, put in some time and head back to work or home. If you are one of these people, ask yourself, "What do I want to get out of this?" If you want serious results, you need to do serious exercise. That doesn't mean you can't enjoy it and have fun. But it does mean you need to focus on what you're doing and increase the quality of every movement. Once you start exercising with a real purpose and pushing both your aerobic capacity and your strength, you will find your workouts take half the time and yield better results. Most exercisers are far too generous with estimates of exercise intensity and time, the amount of weight lifted, and the frequency of their workouts. To avoid overestimating, it's helpful to keep an exercise log and track these items. Additionally, many people mistakenly believe that if they exercise at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, they've burned lots of calories and fat. Unfortunately, it's not that simple. While exercise does burn calories over time, and consistent exercise is one of the best ways to lose weight and keep it off, it's hard to lose body fat through exercise alone. Which brings us to the next mistake. 3. Underestimating Your Eating Many people are in denial about the foods they eat, and particularly, the quantity consumed. If you want to lose weight, you need to be honest with yourself about what you put into your body and how that helps or hinders your weight-loss goals. To get real with yourself, write it down. Tracking what you eat in a food diary will help you break the cycle of food denial. You can also try using a calorie counter for more advanced diet support. 4. Doing the Wrong Type of Workout Where did you learn your current exercise routine? By watching others at the gym (who may be exercising incorrectly)? From your friends, coworkers, the web, TV, the newspaper, the latest research findings, or perhaps your 5th-grade gym teacher? What you're doing for exercise directly determines the results you will get. To learn what you should do, there's no better place to start than by writing down your goals and then working with a professional trainer to design the right workout to meet those goals. Haphazard exercise will provide haphazard results. 5. Never Changing Your Workout When you do the same thing day after day, you get very good at it. In exercise, this is called the principle of adaptation. It means that we become very efficient by doing the same exercise over and over. This is great for sports performance, but not that great for weight loss, increasing strength, or physical fitness progression. If you always do the same workout for the same amount of time, you will eventually hit a plateau where you fail to see any additional change. One way of overcoming this plateau is to modify your workouts every few weeks or months. You can change the type of exercise you do, the length, the amount of weight lifted, or the number or reps. This is why professional athletes change their programs during the off-season. 6. Using Incorrect Form or Technique Learning the right way to exercise is essential to getting results. Form does matter, especially when doing any strength training exercise. Incorrect form or technique also sets you up for potential injuries, pain, and soreness. To learn proper technique, there's no better place to start than with a personal trainer or coach. 7. Setting Unrealistic Goals So, what are your exercise goals? Are they realistic for you? If your goal is to be the next Lance Armstrong, and you only have 30 minutes a day to train, or you want to lose 25 pounds in a month . . . Ask yourself how realistic are your goals? Again, it comes back to being honest with yourself about your abilities, your level of commitment, and your lifestyle. You need to set appropriate goals that start from where you are and progress at a reasonable rate, or you're sure to get frustrated and quit. 8. Measuring the Wrong Results Many people think their workout isn't working because they don't measure the right things. Looking for proof in a scale is often a set-up for disappointment because some new exercisers build muscle and lose fat, but the scale doesn't provide information about body composition. Better ways to measure your fitness progress include tracking your heart rate at a given pace, measuring the distance you can cover in a certain amount of time, tracking the amount of weight you can lift, or even writing down how you feel -- physically -- at the end of each day. Many of the benefits from exercise are subtle and not visible by looking into the mirror, but things such as cholesterol level, blood pressure, and the ease with which you can do daily chores are every bit as motivating -- if you monitor them. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Foods That Help You Burn Fat

This post is from the HungryGirl website and confirms that your diet will help you burn fat. The right diet will burn more fat than exercise. I write about this subject every week, you can't starve yourself and lose weight. You have to eat the right foods. There are actually foods that help you burn fat. If you eat the right foods, you'll never be hungry. It's not the quantity, it's the quality. Sticking to a healthy diet is tough — we need all the extra motivation we can get. Adding fat-burning foods to your meals 'n snacks does double duty: They're healthy additions in and of themselves, and they help burn calories. Try the following: One bean, two bean, red bean, blue bean. And when I say "red" and "blue," I mean "pinto" and "navy." Whatever type of bean is your personal favorite, you can count on one thing — experts insist it'll be great at helping your body burn fat. Beans are all-around amazing because they contain lots of protein and fiber. Eating protein is one of the very best ways to encourage your body to burn fat: It boosts your metabolism and helps you feel full and energized. Where does the fiber come in? Studies show that dietary fiber can help regulate your appetite and slow down your digestion, both of which are great for weight control. Aside from those navy and pinto beans, stock up on other fat-burning beans like soybeans, garbanzo beans, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, and lima beans. Bonus: Beans are incredibly budget friendly. Who doesn't love that? While most types of seafood are smart choices, they're not all fat-burning superstars like salmon and tuna. You've probably heard that salmon and tuna are great sources of omega-3 fatty acids. Why should you care? Because not only do omega-3s help grow your hair and nails, they stimulate a protein hormone in your body called leptin, which jumpstarts your metabolism and regulates your appetite. Well, then, allow me to introduce your new best friends: quinoa, brown rice, oat, and corn. These foods are considered whole grains (not to be confused with refined white carbs, which are basically the opposite of fat-burning foods), and chowing down on them fuels your bod with much-needed fiber and complex carbohydrates. It's the "complex" part that helps burn fat: 1) Complex carbs break down more slowly than the simple variety, meaning your energy levels won't crash, and 2) They hold your insulin levels steady, which is good because insulin spikes encourage your body to hang on to fat. If quinoa is your new best friend, yogurt should come in at a close second. Dairy products contain both protein and calcium, which help keep your muscle mass intact while promoting weight loss. Another tidbit of good news about dairy: Studies show that of two groups of participants on low-calorie diets, the group that included dairy in their diets lost more weight than the dairy-free group. And, as if you need more reason to grow a milk mustache, research shows that probiotics found in some light dairy fights fat. Dairy can be scary because it usually contains fat, but it's not difficult to stick to fat-free and light varieties of milk, yogurt, and cheese. There are so many delicious options out there. As if we needed another reason to drink red wine. I've saved the best for last: A recent study suggests that red wine (from extracts found in a certain type of red grape) may help your body fight fat. The study found that people who ate a high-fat diet accumulated less fat when they also consumed Muscadine grapes. Conversely, the group that also ate a high fat diet but didn't consume the red grapes accumulated the amount of fat that would be expected based on their food choices. The results are attributed mostly to something called ellagic acid, a compound found in Muscadine grapes. Muscadine grapes are grown primarily in the southeastern United States, and they’re used to make certain American wines. Cheers! If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

Weight Watcher's New Program

I found this post on WebMd and if you have tried again and again to lose weight with no success, think about Weight Watchers. I don't promote pre-packaged foods or diet pills and that's why I think Weight Watcher might be for those who haven't been able to lose fat on their own. There is a membership fee but that's all you pay and I think you can pay by the month.  The Promise Pasta, steak, cheese, ice cream... You can eat what you want on Weight Watchers. While the popular weight-loss plan has been revamped, the basic principle of eating what you love remains -- though the program steers you toward healthier foods with its points system. In its new program, called Beyond the Scale, fitness also takes a bigger role. You'll be encouraged to move more every day. Weight Watchers isn’t so much a diet as a lifestyle change program. It can help you learn how to eat healthier and get more physical activity, so you lose the weight for good. You can follow the plan online on your own. You'll track your food choices and exercise, chart progress, and find recipes and workouts. There’s a coaching option if you prefer one-on-one consultations by phone, email, and text. Or you can go to in-person group meetings, where you’ll weigh in. A Consumer Reports survey found that people who went to meetings were more satisfied with the program and lost more weight than people who used only the online tools. What You Can Eat and What You Can't No food is forbidden when you follow this plan, which doesn’t make you buy any prepackaged meals. Weight Watchers assigns different foods a SmartPoints value, which replaces its long-standing PointsPlus plan. The concept is the same, though. Nutritious foods that fill you up have fewer points than junk with empty calories. But the eating plan now factors sugar, fat, and protein into its points calculations to steer you toward fruits, veggies, and lean protein, and away from stuff that's high in sugar and saturated fat. You’ll have a SmartPoints target that's set up based on your body and goals. As long as you stay within your daily target, you can spend those SmartPoints however, you’d like, even on alcohol or dessert. But healthier, lower-calorie foods cost fewer points. So,when you eat low-cal foods, you can eat more. If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my Ebook at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?”, is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites and search the title to find my Ebook. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

What's Behind the Gluten-Free Trend?

This is an article I found and I think it's a "most read". Today there's a trend to find the answer to our weight problems. Some people are convinced that you should quit sugar; no sugar diet is really popular now and most of these believers don't need to lose weight. They believe that any processed sweetners are bad for your health and many people who quit sugar admitt that they feel better. Gluten-free is another popular way to eat. Some people can eliminate health problems by going gluten-free and others feel it might help them lose weight. Processed wheat flour is as bad for you as processed sugar according to recent studies.


By Kathleen Doheny

Not that many years ago, the letters "GF" on a restaurant menu would likely have puzzled many people. No longer.

These days, a gluten-free lifestyle has become one of the most popular diet trends in the U.S. One in five people now reduce or eliminate gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley or rye, in their diet, according to a 2015 Gallup poll.

Avoiding gluten is crucial for people with celiac disease. That’s because gluten damages the small intestine and nutrients can't be absorbed. Its symptoms include diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and pain.

Researchers say that some who follow a gluten-free diet without a diagnosis of celiac disease may have non-celiac gluten sensitivity. People with non-celiac gluten sensitivity have similar symptoms but don’t have celiac disease. People with a wheat allergy may also follow the diet to prevent an allergic reaction.

But do others need to go gluten-free?

Who Is Going Gluten-Free, and Why?

Nearly 100 million Americans say they ate gluten-free products in 2015. Americans spent an estimated $4 billion on gluten-free products in 2015.

Kim’s research has found that women are more likely than men to avoid gluten, and the diet is more popular among 20- to 39-year-olds. It’s also popular among world-class athletes. In another survey, 41% of 910 world-class athletes and Olympic medalists said they followed a gluten-free diet at least half the time, and most had self-diagnosed their gluten sensitivity. Among the many stars reportedly going gluten-free are Gwyneth Paltrow, Russell Crowe, and Kim Kardashian.

"It's a trendy diet, people want quick fixes, and diets are frequently used as a quick fix for issues.''

Many health care professionals such as dietitians and psychiatrists promote the diet to people without diagnosed celiac disease, Green says. He says that an executive, who did not have celiac disease, told him his life coach recommended going gluten-free. He suspects that the association with celiac disease gives the gluten-free diet a medical legitimacy, so health care professionals may feel it's responsible to recommend it.

Who Really Needs Gluten-Free and Does It Help?

If you have celiac disease, a gluten-free diet can provide relief from bloating and intestinal problems, Kim says. Although people who self-diagnose their gluten sensitivity report the same relief from symptoms, Kim says more research is needed. In one study, Balistreri notes, people with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reported a gluten-free diet helped their symptoms, although more research is needed.

People have also reported that they lost weight after avoiding gluten, according to a commentary accompanying Kim’s study. But the Celiac Disease Foundation says gluten-free diets may actually result in weight gain. In people with celiac disease, more nutrients are absorbed into the body as the intestines heal on a gluten-free diet, and gluten-free foods may also be higher in sugar and fat.

Some experts say that the sensitivity to the gluten in wheat might not be the whole story. Wheat contains both gluten and poorly absorbed carbohydrates that can make you gassy. Limiting these carbohydrates has helped those with irritable bowel syndrome. This involves cutting out wheat, rye, lactose, fructose, apples, and other gassy fruits. Other research has also found that those with self-reported non-celiac gluten sensitivity improved on a gluten-free diet but improved even more when these carbohydrates were cut out, Balistreri says.

People who cut out gluten may also simply be eating healthier, others suggest. Many highly-processed foods contain gluten, and eliminating them may help people feel better.

Gluten-Free: The Downsides

While the gluten-free diet ''is lifesaving for those with celiac," Green says, for those without medical indications, ''we don’t think a gluten-free diet is a very healthy diet. ... It's low in fiber and often enriched in fat and calories."

It also puts people at risk of nutritional deficiencies, Green says. "Wheat flour is fortified. They add folic acid, [other] B vitamins, and iron. Rice flour, a mainstay of gluten-free foods, is not. We have seen people with vitamin B deficiency." B vitamins help convert food into fuel, help repair cells, and have other important roles. Gluten-free diets are not always easy to follow, Green says. The products are typically more expensive than products that contain gluten.

Also, parents should not place children on a gluten-free diet without a medical reason, Fasano says.

"If the kid does not have celiac disease or allergy [to wheat], there is no reason to go on a gluten-free diet," he says. People who go on a gluten-free diet without a medical need often think they are choosing a healthy lifestyle, but they may be harming their health, Green says.

In an op-ed piece he co-wrote for the Los Angeles Times, he writes: "What gluten-free faddists don’t seem to realize is that in excluding gluten, they’re also excluding a host of nutrients that keep them out of the doctor’s office, not in it."

I can't agree with everything in this article, some cultures don't have any wheat products in their diet and are far healthier than North Americans. Wheat flour is enriched and fortified but that's only because processing the wheat for flour strips the nutrients from the wheat, so they think by adding chemicals to the flour they can put back some of the things they eliminated. We don't need bread in our diet or any bakery goods. I think the enriched flour that we have today is one reason we have an overweight problem in this country. Understand that the white flour we buy today is not the wheat flour your Grandmother used in her kitchen. Remember that when you buy the next loaf of bread.

If you really want to lose your body fat than look for my e-books at the websites listed below. You'll get information on Healthy eating, exercise, and diet. Instead of spending hours on the internet reading dozens of posts, you can save time by picking up one of my e-books. 

There are two e-books. “How Bad Do You Want To Lose Weight?” is available at all the online bookstores selling for $1.99. Go to any of the websites below and search the title to find my e-book. This book gives you all you need to lose weight without spending money on gym memberships, diet plans or meal plans. Look for my book. at Amazon.com, B&N.com, iBooks, Kobo.com, Scribd.com, or Gardner Books in the U.K.

My new e-book is available on Smashwords.com, just type “getting to a Healthy Weight” in the search box at the top of the home page.